THE FA Cup – lost its magic? Not for one football crazy fan from Surrey, whose love of the old competition has seen him currently ‘following’ Wolves, until Saturday at least.

FOR the vast majority of Wolves fans, heading to Watford for Saturday’s FA Cup tie will be their second taste of this season’s famous old competition.

It will also be Andy Ollerenshaw's second viewing of Wolves in the cup, having made the trip to Molineux for the third round win against Cambridge.

But when Ollerenshaw pitches up at Vicarage Road, it will actually be the TWELFTH cup tie he has viewed this season.

Because the 44-year-old from Chertsey in Surrey has taken up a ‘Road to Wembley’ challenge which he hopes will propel him all the way from last August’s extra preliminary round to May’s final.

“From Wick to Wembley” is the snappy title of Ollerenshaw's journey, although, as he explains, that’s not entirely strictly accurate.

“As a Leeds fan exiled in the South I’m among a group of friends who just try to go to games whenever we can,” he explains.

“Every year we say we should try and do the Road to Wembley, starting off in the first preliminary round and then following the winning team through the rounds.

“But it just never really happened – the competition starts in August and so there’s always holidays or some other excuse.

“For me it happened this year almost by chance.

“I live just down the road from Chertsey Town’s ground, and one Tuesday night, when there was nothing on the telly, I popped down to their extrapreliminary round replay against Wick.

“It was while walking back that I thought, ‘why not’? I got home, told my wife Angela, who rolled her eyes, and it all took off from there.

“Strictly speaking it’s not quite “Wick to Wembley” because I didn’t see that first game, but it was still the first stage of the competition and I’m now hoping to go all the way.”

Different friends have so far accompanied Ollerenshaw on his trips to various non-league outposts, and he has also combined the challenge with writing his first ever blog, to a healthy response.

It has also convinced the army civilian worker that while there may be moans and groans about the cup’s appeal at higher levels, lower down the footballing pyramid the old lady is very much alive and kicking.

“I don’t think the FA Cup is what it used to be, especially since I was a kid,” he admits.

“With live television and so on things have really changed. But the games I’ve seen so far have just proved to me how much the cup means to some of these smaller clubs.

“At places like Dartford and Eastbourne they were doubling their crowds for the FA Cup games and there were some really good atmospheres.

“Gradually you see that change through the rounds and I know Watford against Wolves isn’t exactly the most exciting draw.

“But say had Wolves got drawn at home to Liverpool or Manchester United I’m sure it would have had the same pull and excitement as I saw in those earlier rounds.”

There are of course many tales to tell from visits to some of the endearing bread-and-butter non-league venues.

From being welcomed like royalty at Eastbourne and given a tour behind the scenes to meet the chairman and players to then finding himself locked in conversation with a substitute waiting to go on.

And events at Dartford, where one defender having made a challenge on the touchline replaced a supporter’s hat which had fallen off or where being wrongly given a chicken and mushroom pasty instead of cheese and onion sparked huge debate on the club’s website!

Whether Ollerenshaw manages to make it to Wembley does of course depend on a host of factors including good old-fashioned luck, with ticket availability the major obstacle.

But the omens are good, as twice so far the challenge has almost come to an end, only for Ollerenshaw to soldier on.

“On the Friday before Dartford played Camberley in the second qualifying round, my wife and myself were playing volleyball and she went down holding her ankle,” he explains.

“Call me a typical selfish bloke, but even while were carrying off my first thought was that she’d broken it and I might have to miss the game.

“We went straight to A&E, where it was revealed she hadn’t broken it but had badly sprained the ligaments.

“That left me with a tough decision – should I stay at home and look after my wife or make the trip down the M25?

“Well I did what every good, caring compassionate husband would have done – I went to the match. I did take my son – seven-year-old Joe - so it did at least give Angela a bit of peace and quiet!

“Working for the armed forces it’s a big establishment with 700 or so people on site and ever since many of them have been asking how she is!”

The next ‘near miss’ actually came at Wolves.

Despite being laid low with what turned out to be a respiratory infection, or ‘cup fever’ as he termed it, Ollerenshaw managed to make it to Molineux drugged up to the eyeballs.

Some might suggest, given Wolves’ run of results prior to Cambridge, that was perhaps the best way.

“It was a bit surreal,” he admits.

“I hadn’t been to Molineux since the early Eighties when the pitch was miles from the stand.

“As much as I can remember bearing in mind my senses were numbed it was still a decent game, and I thought Michael Kightly and Freddy Eastwood coming off the bench made the big difference.

“As to my journey, the step up from Cambridge in the Conference to Wolves in the Championship was massive.

“In earlier rounds I have maybe been mentioned in a club programme and even on tannoy announcements but this was the first time there was a real detachment and I was just one of 15,340 in the crowd.

“I always knew it would happen, the further I went through, but still wasn’t prepared for it."

So now on to Watford.

Ollerenshaw has no particular preferences as to where his journey – 1,350 miles thus far- should lead next.

Maybe a game in the North East, where he is yet to visit, or Manchester, where he has family.

Ultimately though it is the not knowing that almost carries most of the appeal.